CASE STUDY
Industry: Homecare
Category: Laundry
Solution: HUT
Location: UK & France
The Challenge:
A leading laundry brand was developing new detergent cap designs and sought to understand how these changes would impact actual usage behaviour among households in the UK and France. They wanted clarity on whether different cap sizes would lead people to use more or less product, whether any changes would be consciously noticed, and how everyday routines, messiness, and ease of use might affect satisfaction and long-term usage.
The Solution:
We ran a two-week home usage test (HUT) across both markets, giving us a transparent view of natural dosing behaviour. Participants used one product and one cap throughout, completing touchpoint surveys and sharing photos, videos, and spontaneous reflections through our intercept approach. Product weighing provided objective consumption data, while interviews and video tasks revealed how design cues, shortcuts, and personal habits shaped the amount of detergent people ultimately poured.
The Result:
The study showed that cap design subtly but powerfully influences real-world dosing. One of the new cap formats consistently encouraged higher usage per wash, even though most consumers felt they were using the same amount as usual – creating increased consumption without impacting satisfaction.
All designs delivered strong performance across cleaning, fragrance, and ease of use, with the leading cap striking the best balance between intuitive dosing and positive experience.
Crucially, these findings gave the client clear, actionable direction for pack development. They demonstrated that small design cues in the cap – such as shape, depth, fill lines, and visual proportions – can meaningfully influence dosing behaviour without negatively affecting perceived performance. This meant the client could confidently optimise cap design depending on their strategic objective: driving value through slightly higher per-wash usage, improving dosing accuracy to support sustainability claims, or balancing both.
In practical terms, the insights enabled the client to refine the cap design to guide intuitive, consistent dosing, reduce reliance on on-pack instructions, and ensure the pack design was working as a commercial lever rather than just a functional component.
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